Not So Partisan? Kentuckians Think Beshear And Cameron Are Doing A Good Job

Conservative activists and Republican lawmakers in Kentucky have been constantly attacking Gov. Andy Beshear for his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. Civil rights activists both here and across the country have been blasting Attorney General Daniel Cameron for his handling of the case surrounding the killing of Breonna Taylor by Louisville police officers. 

But interestingly, Kentucky voters overall seem fairly satisfied with both men, according to two recent polls. And they are also fairly satisfied with local and state officials and how they have handled the myriad issues around the coronavirus. 

Let’s start with the governor. 63 percent of Kentucky adults approve of the job that Beshear is doing as governor, compared to just 28 percent who disapprove, according to a Spectrum News/Ipsos poll of Kentucky adults that was conducted Oct 7-15. 53 percent of Kentucky’s registered voters approve of Beshear compared to 39 percent who disapprove, according to a Mason-Dixon poll that was conducted Oct 12-15. Either number is pretty impressive considering how Republican-leaning Kentucky is. (For comparison’s sake, 39 percent of voters approve of Sen. Mitch McConnell, compared to 51 percent who disapprove, according to that same Ipsos survey.)  

One key element of Beshear’s popularity is that all Republicans don’t hate him, a considerable achievement in these ultra-polarized times. 64 percent of Kentucky Republicans disapprove of Beshear, while a third either approve of him (26 percent) or aren’t sure (10 percent), per Mason-Dixon. 

66 percent of Kentuckians approve of Beshear’s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, compared to 28 percent who disapprove, per Ipsos. The similarity of that number to Beshear’s overall approval rating suggests that Kentuckians like Beshear because of his handling of COVID. 

49 percent of Kentuckians approve of his handling of “protests and social unrest” (Ipsos’s way of alluding to Taylor’s death and the protests), compared to 38 percent who disapprove. 53 percent of Kentuckians approve of how Beshear is handling issues surrounding kids going back to school amid COVID-19. compared to 37 percent who disapprove. Only 33 percent of Kentuckians think Beshear has overstepped his executive authority in his handling of the virus outbreak, compared to 55 percent who think that he has not. 

In terms of Cameron, 39 percent of Kentuckians think he handled the grand jury process in Taylor’s case well, compared to 38 percent who disagree, per the Ipsos poll. That’s not great for him, considering how conservative the state is. On the other hand, it’s not like that opposition is in the 60’s, which would suggest trouble for Cameron in his next run for office. (It’s not clear if he will seek a second term as attorney general, run for governor or try to replace McConnell or Sen. Rand Paul if either retires.) 

Overall, 54 percent of Kentucky voters approve of the job Cameron is doing as attorney general, compared to 34 percent who disapprove, according to Mason-Dixon. That poll found that 36 percent of Democrats approve of Cameron, while 52 percent of Democrats disapprove of Cameron. So Cameron, like Beshear, has some support within the other party. That Democratic support from Cameron is a bit higher than I expected. (Other polls had shown a bloc of Republicans who like Beshear.) What explains it? This is just one poll, so perhaps Cameron will be less popular with Democrats in subsequent ones. But it’s worth noting that many Kentuckians still identify as Democrats but vote Republican. Also, it’s possible that the intensity of opposition to Cameron over his handling of the Taylor case is really high among some Democrats but perhaps not that broad within the party.

Even in left-leaning Louisville, Cameron is not that unpopular -- 48 percent of people disapprove of him, 42 percent approve. 

Here are some other interesting findings from the Ipsos poll:

60 percent of Kentuckians are in favor of a requirement that people wear masks in public, per the Ipsos survey, while 33 percent are opposed. 

43 percent of Kentuckians said that they have had or are currently having trouble paying their bills as a result of the effects of COVID-19, compared to 52 percent who have not had new challenges regarding their personal finances. 

31 percent of Kentuckians think lockdowns in their communities have been too strict, 62 percent disagree with that view. 

31 percent of Kentuckians think that all schools should have started holding in-person classes from the start of the school year, while 62 percent disagree. 

55 percent of Kentuckians think that police using excessive force against black people is a “widespread problem,” compared to 36 percent who disagree. 56 percent say racism is a significant problem in Kentucky, compared to 37 percent who disagree. 

47 percent support the Black Lives Matter movement, compared to 41 percent who don’t. (Civiqs polling found BLM net unpopular in Kentucky, so I hope more pollsters ask this kind of question to resolve that discrepancy.) Only 31 percent support shifting funding from police departments to other social programs, while 60 percent disagree with that idea. (It’s worth emphasizing that Louisville is way more left-leaning than the state of Kentucky, so this polling suggests that at least 40 percent of people in Louisville might support decreasing police funding.) 

To conclude, I should emphasize —just because a majority of Kentuckians have a certain view doesn’t necessarily mean that view is morally-right or sound in terms of policy. But these surveys are useful in helping us understand what the average Kentuckian thinks, as opposed to people who are attending protests (objecting to the lockdowns or Taylor’s killing), posting a lot on social media or otherwise very vocal and engaged in politics. The media tends to cover and feature the most politically-engaged people, but those people often aren’t representative of the broader population. Also, the media, myself included, tends to focus on conflict -- Beshear vs. the anti-lockdown conservatives, Cameron vs. the civil rights activists, Beshear vs. some local officials and parents who want schools open now, Beshear vs. the Republican lawmakers.

But in these cases, the conflict angle is a bit misleading---most Kentuckians are not super-mad at Beshear or Cameron. 

If you are looking for polling on McGrath-McConnell or other issues in Kentucky, check out this previous edition of this newsletter. You can sign up for this newsletter here. If you have suggestions/tips for stories in the future, email me at perrylbacon@gmail.com. You can also reach me at that address if you have see typos/errors that I can correct for the web edition of this newsletter.